Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said late Tuesday it is pulling out of the planned redevelopment of the former University of Colorado Hospital campus in Denver.

The retailer had planned to locate one of its Walmart stores at East Ninth Avenue and Albion Street, off Colorado Boulevard, but met with strong community opposition.

“While Walmart will not be part of the planned redevelopment of the former University of Colorado Health Sciences campus, we will continue to evaluate other opportunities to serve Denver-area customers and expand access to affordable groceries,” according to a company statement.

Neighbors of the site had fought the proposed store with yard signs, letters to the editor and a noisy presence at community meetings on the issue. They warned that a Walmart at the site would hurt other retailers and complained about the company’s labor practices and the type of shoppers who would frequent the store.

The developer of the former hospital site — Jeff Fuqua, CEO of Fuqua Development Inc. — said he was disappointed with Wal-Mart Stores’ decision, but said the project would move forward anyway, although he had said previously that the redevelopment could not continue without a Walmart store and that other anchor retailers declined to be involved.

“The project has been subject to very complicated GDP [general development plans] and financial structures,” Fuqua said in an interview late Tuesday. “It’s been very intense. As intense as I’ve seen in the United States. We’re having to build at standards that are the highest I’ve ever seen.

“In the beginning, I think Wal-Mart understood that and was fine,” he added. “ ... But as we got further into the community meetings, they had to take it to an even higher level than that, to include the interior of the store. With more and more demands, I think it made them believe that it may be impossible to achieve those demands and the financial structure as it was becoming more complicated.”

Delia Garcia, Wal-Mart’s media director for the western United States, said the company’s decision for the Ninth and Albion site is final.

“The real issue is that the proposed redevelopment is a multidimensional challenge for the developer, the city, the community and for CU,” Garcia said. “It’s become clear that there are multidimensional challenges for those stakeholders to resolve before prospective tenants can commit to it.”

The plan involving the Walmart store began to crumble when Denver City Council representatives for the area, Mary Beth Susman and Jeanne Robb, said they would not support tax-increment financing for the project if the store were involved.

Mayor Michael Hancock had previously sent the councilmembers an email urging them to support the development.

Tuesday, Hancock said that the “redevelopment of the site at Ninth and Colorado is a priority for Denver. Through a collaborative process, the stakeholders have convened to explore the options of this site, and the neighborhoods have been heard. Together we will work to deliver a project that serves the community and will create jobs and prosperity in a central corridor of the city. Walmart remains a valued partner to the city, serving many of our neighborhoods and providing thousands of jobs.”

Late Tuesday, Fuqua downplayed Wal-Mart’s decision, saying, “These changes are very common in the development community ... Certainly we will overcome this change.

“We’re vigorously working on a new financial structure and are actively looking at other tenant options,” he added. “We’re confident we can perfect a plan and new financial structure.”

Asked if other retailers would hesitate to get involved based on Wal-Mart’s experience, Fuqua said that “most retailers rely on us to shoulder those issues.”

“This project has a long history,” Fuqua said. “It is an extremely difficult project to develop in every way you can describe. Some retailers might think it’s going to be an expensive, long venture. But we’ll shoulder that and are confident we can deal with that.”

Mary Nell Wolff, chairwoman of the Colorado Boulevard Health Care District, said Wal-Mart Stores’ decision “allows the developer to re-look at the property and decide what might be the best way to go about restructuring their proposal.”

The district includes the area’s neighborhood associations, public officials and representatives of area hospitals such as National Jewish Health. It has been meeting regularly about the redevelopment project.

She agreed the news will delay the development, but added that the district has been working on plans for 10 years with three different developers.

“It’s a complex development,” Wolff said. “You have the University of Colorado, a state-based entity; you have zoning within the city and county of Denver; and you have very involved and passionate neighborhoods that surround this unused and undeveloped acreage. So, yes, there’s many moving parts.”

Asked if retailers would be hesitant to commit to the project based on what the Wal-Mart proposal endured, Wolff said: “I think it is challenging, but that’s why it’s such an interesting property and the fact that it’s right in the heart of the city means it’s a prime piece of property for redevelopment .... We’ll have to wait and see how Jeff restructures his plan.”

In a statement before Wal-Mart Stores’ decision Tuesday, CU officials expressed hope the project could move forward — regardless of who the anchor tenant would be.

“We are currently under contract with the developer and are hopeful that the developer and community can continue to work together to secure development options for the Ninth and Colorado property,” said Jacque Montgomery, executive director of media relations for University of Colorado Denver and the Anschutz Medical Campus. “We hope agreements can be reached so that the sale of the campus can proceed and the property can be developed. As the University has maintained since the beginning , its role and desire is simply to see the property sold and developed.”